


Chained To The Crown

by tinknevertalks



Series: Fictober 2018 [4]
Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Author mutilates Latin via Google Translate, Episode Tag: For King and Country, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 16:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16684843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinknevertalks/pseuds/tinknevertalks
Summary: Nigel and Nikola have a late night chat about the Prime Minister's offer.





	Chained To The Crown

**Author's Note:**

> Day Four of Fictober, and what I had planned (a slightly kinky Teslen piece) mutated into this (super kink less) fic with my favourite three members of The Five.
> 
> Prompt: Will that be all?

Nikola lounged in his armchair, wine glass held loosely by the rim, fire warming his legs. It had been an interesting day, being strong armed into working for the king, becoming “paid” assassins, seeing Helen again. The warmth that blossomed in his ( _chest_ ) stomach almost knocked him over, until he heard her heartbeat. The wonderful _ba-dum ba-dum_ he pretended not to miss filled his senses. He wasn’t even ( _very_ ) jealous when her heart rate spiked, seeing Druitt fill the doorway. That wasn’t surprising.

Watching her hold herself away from them all, even Watson, that confused him. From her letters, he knew she worked closely with him ( _and the rest_ ), the two studying Abnormals and anything that caught their fancy.

So, why the distance?

“Raiding the wine cellar, Tesla? She won’t be happy.”

He shrugged. “She’ll let me know if she’s angry.” Looking back, he nodded at Nigel, turning back to the fire and his brooding.

“I don’t think she was expecting us,” he said, sitting next to Nikola. “Pass the wine.”

“Manners, Griffin,” he murmured, relinquishing the pinot noir.

“Shove off.” The fire crackled. “He still scares her.”

Nikola didn’t need to ask who. Nor did he voice his own thoughts on the matter, knowing how her heart reacted when they made eye contact. He just raised his eyebrow, sipping his drink.

“He scares them both,“ came moments later, directed more to Nigel’s glass than to Nikola.

“Both?”

Nigel nodded, not seeing Nikola’s grimace as he glugged his wine. “James.”

“James isn’t scared of John.” Refilling his glass, he paused a moment. “Maybe of Helen…”

Nigel hummed. Nikola couldn’t decide if he was agreeing or not. The fire crackled on, both remaining quiet and introspective as the flames ensnared the wood.

“If we do this, we’re bound to the Crown forever.”

Nikola turned to his friend, surprised he’d voiced a thought he himself had had earlier. “Go on…”

Nigel peered into his glass, trying for indifference but betrayed by the pulse in his neck, the drum beat of his heart. “They’ll keep calling, especially us two, and John. The Invisible Man, Jack the Ripper and an honest to goodness vampire at their beck and call?” He shook his head. “No. We’ll never be able to ask, ‘Will that be all?’ Never be able to turn away.”

“What would you have us do?” he asked snidely. “They have us over the barrel.” Sipping his wine, he added, “And Worth is mad enough to do what they say he’s planning.”

Nigel’s answer never came, the polite knock on the library door interrupting both Nigel’s train of thought and the atmosphere they fostered whenever they talked. “It’s open, Helen.”

“How did you–?” she asked as she walked in. Her cheeks were flushed, and Nikola wallowed in the sound of her heartbeat.

Nigel glanced between the two, smirked, and replied, “Just a feeling, Helen love.” Standing, he offered his chair. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to turn in. Some of us,” he turned to Nikola and glared jokingly, “have to sleep the night.”

“Don’t let us ruin your beauty sleep,” Nikola replied blithely, laughing as Nigel muttered all the way to the door. Quieting, he faced the fire again. “How much did you hear?”

Helen nodded, sitting down. “Enough… Do you honestly think I haven’t thought of that? Of us being their puppets?”

Nikola shrugged. “A chance to run your Sanctuary properly–”

“Would not supersede our need to be free.” The colour was there again, high on her cheeks, her eyes glittering in the firelight. Loose curls had worked their way free from her updo, framing her face in a way painters only dreamed of capturing. If Nikola breathed as she did, his breath would’ve stopped by the sight. “Nikola, we need to work together on this. The Five, as we were.”

He snorted derisively. “You mean before the Source Blood, or before Johnny’s predilection for murder, and blaming it on others, came to the fore?” His wine suddenly became the most interesting thing in the room as he ignored Helen’s heartbeat, Helen’s breathing, Helen’s movements as– “Hey!”

The glass shattered in the fireplace, the flames momentarily fed by the alcohol he’d been enjoying. Both stared at each other, as equally surprised as the other by her actions.

“I will find us all a way out,” she promised. “Not just freedom for me. Safety for you as well.”

Gazing into her eyes, he remembered the one time Gregory had spoken civilly to him. “ _Sanctitatem in sempiternum_?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. “It isn’t an empty motto, Nikola.” Her words were warm, almost fervent.

“I believe you,” he murmured, relief flooding his system as Helen’s heartbeat slowed. “It’s Nigel you’ll need to persuade.” Bowing her head, looking at her hands, he would’ve missed her admission had he not been a vampire. He stood up, and offered his hand. “Have I shown you my inert gas discharge tube yet?”


End file.
